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NDP urge Liberals to take quicker action on pay equity

NDP MP Sheila Malcolmson speaks with the media in Ottawa on Thursday, November 30, 2017. The New Democrats say that if the Liberals were serious about ensuring men and women get equal pay for work of equal value, they would be moving faster on introducing legislation - and attaching a dollar amount.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

The Canadian Press
Published Tuesday, April 17, 2018 2:00PM EDT
Last Updated Tuesday, April 17, 2018 4:32PM EDT

OTTAWA -- The New Democrats say that if the Liberals were serious about ensuring men and women get equal pay for work of equal value, they would be moving faster on introducing legislation -- and attaching a dollar amount.

The 2018 federal budget included a promise to implement proactive pay equity legislation, but did not include any details on what it would cost.

The 556-page budget implementation bill also did not contain any steps towards making that a reality for those who work in federally regulated sectors.

At the very least, NDP MP Sheila Malcolmson said the budget should have set aside funding to establish a pay equity commissioner to start trying to hammer out the details needed to make it work.

"That here we are in the very final year of the mandate, with no legislation and zero dollars allocated, to me expresses a great timidity on the part of the prime minister, but also a failure to put his money where his mouth is on pay equity," Malcolmson said Tuesday.

Status of Women Minister Monsef told the House of Commons during question period that legislation will come this fall.

To get there, the Liberal government is still exploring its options, including how it will enforce the rules, which comes before figuring out the price tag.

Malcolmson said funding for universal access to affordable child care would have been another way the gender-focused budget could have done more to support women.

U.S. President Donald Trump's steel and aluminum tariffs contradict a key component of the new North American trade agreement -- the pivotal section on autos -- which will ultimately lead to their demise, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland says.